Jack Marriott expected to continue where he left off for Derby County

Andy Buckley-Taylor

This Saturday sees the Rams return to league action after the second international break of the season. Top of the table Sheffield United are the visitors to Pride Park in a televised match.

Chris Wilder has done a fantastic job at Bramall Lane and without the big budget of many of the teams in the division. They took four points in our matches with them last season and no doubt will be felling confident that they can go away with something on Saturday.

What is for sure is that our defence will have to be at their best to keep out the likes of veteran strikers Leon Clarke and Billy Sharp.

Frank Lampard may face a selection dilemma with Curtis Davies now back from injury to stake a claim in The Rams defence and has a few options up front as well!

Many will expect Jack Marriott to continue in the central striking role. Marriott has had to be patient to get his chance in the league, but an impressive showing at QPR will have done his cause the world of good. He put in a good performance as well as scoring at Loftus Road.

The wide positions needing some thought too. Mason Bennett may find himself edged out this time around. Harry Wilson will be favourite to take one wing with Tom Lawrence probably the leading contender for the other flank.

We are now entering a series of games against sides in and around the promotion places in the table. We will get some indications of just how good Derby County are this season.

It’s taken a few games for us to show some good form and we can still be liable to drift back into old bad habits and let opposition teams into the game when we should be killing them off.

Hopefully Marriott, Wilson and Lawrence can start to show a more clinical threat up front. We are still struggling to create a lot of chances in the penalty area.

The aim for me personally would be to be in or very close to the top six as we approach the Christmas and new year period.

To do that will mean taking our chances, not making unnecessary defensive errors and making sure that we improve with that final ball into the box!